Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan, a former actor and California governor, won the presidency in 1980 and reshaped American politics around conservative principles.

He cut taxes sharply, increased military spending, and pushed to shrink domestic government in a program dubbed 'Reaganomics.' Abroad he took a hard line against the Soviet Union, then negotiated landmark arms-reduction treaties with Mikhail Gorbachev as the Cold War began to thaw. Surviving a 1981 assassination attempt and winning a 49-state landslide in 1984, he left office as one of the most influential presidents of the century.

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